7 Ways to Ease Cramping During Your Period

May 23, 2016

At Aja Vitamins, we think it is important to highlight the many aspects of womanhood, which include promoting a healthy lifestyle. As purveyors of a healthy lifestyle, we want to speak to women and tackle some of the things that we face both daily and monthly, one of these topics include our menstrual cycles, otherwise known as “periods”.

It’s probably one of the least fun things about being a woman. If you’ve opted for a form of birth control, then you might not have any cramping with your periods or you may not have a period at all. However, if you do get your period every 28 to 31 days (sometimes irregularly), we’d like to share some advice to help you feel your best during this “period”.

What do you do when you have cramps, and you want to continue with your day?

We’ve put together a few period tips to provide some relief:

Be careful about what you eat. Depending on the person, dairy may aggravate cramps. Caffeine can constrict your blood vessels and raises tension levels which may cause more cramping, also the oils found in coffee may irritate the intestine. Drinking alcohol may cause you to retain water and make you feel more bloated than you might already feel. For less bloating, try to eat more vegetables, fish, and nuts. We offer many of these nutrients in our multivitamins in the form of a daily vitamin pack. Try our Nourish+Detoxifyvitamin packets.

Try ibuprofen. This is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. It works by reducing hormones that cause inflammation and reduces pain in the body. If your period is regular, and you feel your body starting to ache, then prepare in advance and take the recommended amount (usually one or two). It can be difficult starting your period and then having to wait until the ibuprofen begins to work; so, prepare in advance by taking it before the cramping begins.

Try a heating pad. Studies have shown that a heating pad may be another effective alternative to medicine. The Journal of Physiotherapy showed heat helped to reduce pain and a study published in Evidence-Based Nursing illustrated that heat works to relieve period pains, maybe just as much as an ibuprofen such as Advil, Motrin, or Midol. In the study, the women who participated stopped feeling pain after an hour and a half. Thermacare is one of many examples that manufactures heat wraps for your belly and/or back.

As treacherous as this may seem, moving can work wonders. Like heat, which is a form of energy, is being transferred to your uterus through the heat pad and leading to less pain, moving does the same thing. For some reason, energy eases cramping. It doesn’t have to be anything extreme—running, walking, or yoga will work. One of the many benefits of exercise will be that you’ll release endorphins diminishing the perception of pain and trigger positive feelings in the body.

Contraceptives count. We don’t know where you stand with this, but contraceptives do work in easing period pain. Contraceptives can also help to regulate periods. And, with some forms of birth control such as the IUD, your period could eventually stop. If you’ve opted for birth control, we are guessing that cramping has diminished significantly. If cramping is very painful and you’re not currently taking contraceptives, you might want to consider one to help reduce and/or alleviate the pain.

Try alternative remedies, such as fish oil, vitamin B1, or tea. With participants in a 2014 study published in the Global Journal of Health Science, fish oil and Vitamin B1 helped tremendously with cramping. Some people also use cramp bark tea to ease the pain, or try adding peppermint oil to your tea.

These are just a few simple remedies to help diminish the pain if you experience cramping during your cycle. We hope this helps!

You want to take care of your body, and give it what it needs, but sometimes it can be very confusing when you’re trying to figure out what foods to eat, what snacks to avoid, and what your body may be lacking! When it comes to giving your body what it needs, vitamins can do a world of good to ensure that you’re providing